About Title Insurance

Title Insurance helps you avoid problems…

…A forgery 50 years ago; a deed executed under duress; bigamy that went unknown; an error by a clerk in the county recorder’s office; a misapplied tax payment; these are but a few of the hidden “title defects” that could cause you to lose you property. And, even if you don’t lose your property altogether, title problems could make it impossible for you to sell or even give it away.

You don’t want a problem that occurred long before you bought your property to deprive you of ownership or your right to use or dispose of it. And you don’t want to pay the potentially ruinous cost of defending your property rights in court. A title insurance policy is your best protection against potential defects which could remain hidden despite the most thorough search of public records.

For a one-time premium, title insurance agrees to reimburse you for loss suffered due to defects that existed prior to the issue date of your policy. Unless specifically excluded, your title insurance policy also provides for legal defense costs.

A title insurance policy protects you against such potential defects as:

Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfactions or releases.

Deed by person who is insane or mentally incompetent.

Deed by minor (may be disavowed).

Deed from corporation, unauthorized under corporate bylaws or given under falsified corporate resolution.

Deed from partnership, unauthorized under trust agreement.

Deed from purported trustee, unauthorized under trust agreement.

Deed to or from a “corporation” before incorporation, or after loss of corporate charter.

Deed from a legal nonentity (styled, for example, as a church, charity or club).

Deed by person in a foreign country, vulnerable to challenge as incompetent, unauthorized or defective under foreign laws.

Claims resulting from use of “alias” or fictitious name style by a predecessor in title.

Deed challenged as being given under fraud, undue influence or duress.

Deed following nonjudicial foreclosure, where required procedure was not followed.